All New Evangelion For 2007

Date: 2006 September 18 11:05

Posted by Jeremy

Four all new Evangelion movies are in the works, with the first to be released summer 2007.

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You all thought it was over, that it wrapped itself up in one of the most controversial and talked about films of all time. Well, think again, because Neon Genesis Evangelion, the hit series that revolutionized both the giant robot genre and the anime industry, is coming back with not one, but FOUR new movies in the works. And best of all, most of the production crew for the original series, including director Hideaki Anno and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, will be coming back to work on the new project.

Though it has been over ten years since the series first aired on TV, interest in Evangelion has done anything but die down. All sorts of new merchandise related to the series, including toys, statues and video games, continues to be released in Japan, and American distributor ADV Films has released the series several times on DVD, most notably the Platinum Edition and recent 10th Anniversary box set. The manga adaptation of the series continues to be produced on a sporadic basis, and a new manga, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, set in the alternate universe of episode 26, was released by ADV's manga line. The anime also enjoyed a run on Adult Swim, and talk is still going around for the live-action adaptation of the series featuring special effects by Weta Workshop of Lord of the Rings fame.

The new movies will include a prequel, no doubt telling the backstory of the series; a mid-series movie set in between episodes of the show (ala Cowboy Bebop: The Movie); a sequel probably taking place after the End of Evangelion movie; and a final movie. And while the new movies will be set in the same time frame as the original series, they will be entirely new projects and not simply be remakes or improvements of any sort. Even better, viewers won't need to have seen the original Evangelion series beforehand in order to enjoy the new movies. The prequel will be the first of the films to be released, set for an early summer 2007 release. No release dates, tentative or otherwise, have been announced for the other films.

Anno, who directed the original series, will not direct the new movies. Rather, he will write the scenario for the first film and will be general director and manager for the entire project. Directing the films instead will be Kazuya Tsurumaki, director and original planner for the hit FLCL OAV series. Sadamoto returns to provide character designs for the movies, and Ikuto Yamashita will return to handle mechanical designs. Shinji Higuchi, who worked on the original Evangelion series and End of Evangelion, will provide storyboards for the first movie. More details will be provided as they become available.